Manichithratazhu or The Ornate Lock was one of the 90s' few hugely dramatic & immensely popular movies that it was remade into almost all Indian languages. Mohanlal over-acted in it, but was funny & gave birth to a lovable character. So did Innocent and the rest of the supporting cast. It was both funny & horrid at the same time.
Come 2013, and this spin-off looks just like a gimmick to attract people who follow the cast & the setup of the 90s' hit. But, let me assure you, it is nowhere near it; not in story, not in cast performance, not in humor. The first 30 minutes are used nicely to construct a base for the story which is tremendously similar to another hit film, "Nadiya Kollapettu Rathri" which was brilliant. I won't go into details, but the story fails as some parts of Manichitratzhu are blindly sampled here, with the climax revelation scene so uncanny. Investigating a haunted house reveals a strange, predictable story about the people living in it. The cat-mouse chase begins as was previously seen last year in "Grandmaster."
Mohanlal isn't funny anymore. His dialogs and actions did not only make me despise him but also descent him from my favorites lists. Siddique's is the only plausible character. Newcomer actress has her first and the last film here. Nishan was fine.
I might have chuckled 3-4 times throughout the long 140-minute film, which has not a single strand of newness in it. The story is stitched from parts borrowed from other similar themed movies which reduces the overall effect. Additiong of unnecessary and annoying songs in-between, cheap use of CGI, horrible make-up and high number of useless characters makes this undeniably an example of improper filmmaking.
BOTTOM LINE: Priyadarshan has lost his charm. I cannot say that for Mohanlal looking into the fact of Dhrishyam being a hit and all. But, Geethanjali is a poor show, per se.
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
